Entries by James Onieal

Don’t Just Read the Notes—Use Them

Picture this: you’re flying an ILS approach right down to the absolute minimums. At 200 feet above the ground, the only thing you can see are the approach lights flashing through the fog. You quickly run through FAR 91.175 in your head and remind yourself: yep, this means you’re allowed to keep going down to 100 feet above the touchdown zone.

Too Much Info: How to Focus IFR Thinking

If you weren’t ahead of the airplane, you were the obstacle. It was that high-stress, fast-paced, and constantly changing environment that cemented the most important lesson I’ve learned in all my years of flying:
The most important systems for flying IFR safely and confidently are built on the ground, long before you ever climb into the cockpit to test them.